Tips on Project Planning

Project Management Tips

5 Steps To Improve The PM Process – Part 3 – Analyze the Personnel

We’re now ready to embark on Part 3 of our five-part series on improving the project management process in an organization. So far we’ve touched on:

In this Part 3, we’ll consider the next logical step – analyze the personnel that we are utilizing to deliver on our projects. Do we have the staff we need to be successful? How do we add the right staff for future projects? Are we doing a good job of retaining our skilled resources? What can we do differently or better to acquire and keep the right resources? Let’s consider the following closely…

Is our current staff meeting our current needs?

This one is pretty straightforward. Is the current resource pool performing well on the current projects that are on your organization’s plate? Are projects ending successfully? Are clients giving good feedback on the project team’s performance? Are you handling project needs without constantly reaching out to consultants to fill in the gaps or finish the work? If the answer is “yes”, then you’re probably fine with what you have and retaining the current resource pool is important. But if your projects are floundering it’s critical that you examine why – now – in detail. In this economy a company can ill-afford to retain resources who aren’t performing well or who’s skill set is not a good match for the goals, mission, and needs of the organization and the projects that are being executed on.

What do our future projects require?

A good best place to look for what you need is future projects that you already have lined up. Do you have the skill set to meet those upcoming project needs? The last thing you want to be doing is kicking off a new, important and visible project with a key client only to realize that you don’t quite have the skill set to pull it off. You need to be examining your resource pool and future projects in at least a six-month window. Ask yourself, “Do we have what we need today to pull off the projects we will be working on six months from now?” If the answer is “no”, then you need to take immediate action and get new or different resources on board….now.

How do we make ourselves as competitive as possible?

One might think it’s to get the best technical resources possible and pay them top dollar. That may work in the short term, but can your organization support that pay structure long enough to keep those resources and realize the return on investment (ROI) on your projects? And how do you know those top dollar resources will be a good fit for your corporate culture? It’s more important to get the right resources as opposed to always looking for the best resources. If you don’t need 20 years experience, don’t pay for it. If you don’t need the best .Net developer available, don’t pay for it. Likely a good mix of experience and eagerness to learn will get you to the winner’s circle on your project work. Stocking a basketball team with 12 superstars breaks the payroll and may only guarantee one year of success. The same is true with your employee payroll

Summary 

Our project personnel are often our window into the organization. They represent the company to the customer. How they perform and how they represent the organization on each project engagement usually will make the difference between a satisfied client and a frustrated one or a client who will give us a good referral and one who won’t. Train and retain whenever possible…I believe in that. But sometimes we have to make tough hiring and firing decisions in order to remain profitable and to be successful on our projects with our customers. Take a good long look at your current personnel…can they get your organization to the finish line on a regular basis now and in the future?

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Note: this project tip was provided by Brad Egeland. Brad is a Business Solution Designer and IT/PM consultant and author with over 25 years of software development, management, and project management experience leading initiatives in Manufacturing, Government Contracting, Gaming and Hospitality, Retail Operations, Aviation and Airline, Pharmaceutical, Start-ups, Healthcare, Higher Education, Non-profit, High-Tech, Engineering and general IT. Brad is married, a father of 9, and living in sunny Las Vegas, NV.

Brad Egeland

Other Links

Project Timeline Software :: Project Management Office (PMO) :: Links to/from MS Project